Repeat After Me: Drain, Waste, Vent

Whether your East Bay home is on a sewer or septic system, the systems within your home are essentially the same. Drainage systems do not depend on pressure, as supply systems do. Instead, waste matter leaves your house because the drainage pipes all pitch, or angle, downward. Gravity pulls the waste along. The sewer line continues this downward flow to a sewage treatment facility or a septic tank.

While the system sounds simple, there’s more to it, including vents, traps, and clean outs. The vents sticking up from the roof of your East Bay home allow air to enter the drainpipes. If there were no air supply coming from the vents, wastewater would not flow out properly and the water in the traps would need to be siphoned away.

Traps are vital components of the drainage system. You can see a trap under every sink. It is the curved or S-shape section of pipe under a drain. Water flows from the basin with enough force to go through the trap and out through the drainpipe, but enough water stays in the trap afterward to form a seal that prevents sewer gas from backing up into your East Bay home. Every fixture must have a trap. Toilets are self-trapped and don’t require an additional trap at the drain. Bathtubs frequently have drum traps, not only to form a seal against sewer gas but also to collect hair and dirt in order to prevent clogged drains. Some kitchen sinks have grease traps to collect grease that might otherwise cause clogging. Because grease and hair are generally the causes of drain clogs, traps often have clean-out plugs that give you easier access to remove or break up any blockage.

Since a drainage system involves all of these components, it is usually referred to as the DWV: the drain-waste-vent system. If water is to flow out freely and waste is to exit properly, all components of the DWV must be present and in good working order. Examine the pipes in the basement or crawl space under your East Bay home to help you understand the system better.

Supply and Drainage Subsystems

The supply and drainage subsystems are two distinct operations, with no overlapping between them. There are bridges between the two, however, and the bridges are what make the plumbing system worth having. In plumbing jargon, any bridge between the supply and drainage systems is a fixture.

Toilets, sinks, and tubs are fixtures. In addition, an outside faucet is a fixture and so is a washing machine. All devices that draw freshwater and discharge wastewater are fixtures, and all are designed to keep the supply and drainage systems strictly segregated.

Some fixtures have individual supply shutoff valves so you don’t need to close the main shutoff to repair them. It’s a good idea to make sure everyone in the family knows the location of the main shutoff valve in your house as well as how to use it. You may want to tag the main shutoff valve so anyone can easily find it.

Before you embark on any plumbing repairs, always turn off the water supply to the fixture or the main shutoff. In addition, check with your East Bay plumbing code official before you add or change any pipe in your house. You will learn what is allowed and what is prohibited and whether or not a homeowner is allowed to do his or her own work. Call on yourEast Bay plumber for any repairs that your plumbing code official does not green light.

For the longest time, identifying issues within your home's sewer or plumbing systems consisted of a great deal of guesswork and could often result in a great deal of damage to your home in the process. Fortunately, with advancements in technology over recent years, the process of identifying plumbing and sewer line issues within the home have become easier, faster, and more accurate than ever, and it's thanks in large part to the accessibility of video inspection services. With so much of your plumbing system hidden from view, identifying plumbing issues was always a bit difficult, but with video inspections, we are able to give your plumbing system a more thorough inspection than ever before, and all without having to take apart your plumbing to do so. To help highlight just a few of the benefits offered by video inspections for your home's plumbing and sewer system, our team of professionalRead More

Now that spring has finally arrived, many homeowners are choosing to get outside and tackle that long list of outdoor projects that have been on hold over the course of the winter. Even tho the milder weather and temperatures make this time of year ideal for tackling those outdoor improvements, it is important that you don't forget about the other vital aspects of your home that you can't see during this time of year, like your plumbing system. While it might not seem like spring is a time of year where you need to be overly concerned about something going wrong with your plumbing system, there are several plumbing issues that tend to be more common during this time of year, and it pays to know what you should be on the lookout for, and what you can do to keep these issues from getting out of hand. To help you in this, our team of professionals have taken the time to put together this short article highlighting exactly what some of these issues are, and what you can do to keep them in check.
Check Your Bathrooms
Leaking toilets are always an issue to be on the lookout for, but we tend to get more calls about them in spring than at other times of the year. While water leaking from the tank into the bowl isn't usually going to be overly harmful to your home, this constant usage can start to add up over time, and can make a dramatic impact when it comes to your monthly water bills over time. The most effective method of checking for these leaks is to put a few drops of food coloring into you toilet's tank and let it sit for about half an hour. After that time, if you notice that the water in your toilet bowl has changed color, it's a pretty clear-cut sign that there is an issue with at least one of the components in your reservoir. From here, the best course of action is to call in a plumbing professional who can get to the bottom of the issue and get it resolved for you so you stop losing water unnecessarily.
Protect Your Sewer Lines From Growing Roots
Spring is the time for growing, whether its your grass, your garden, or the trees around your property, and as the weather continues to warm up, everything is going to start spreading its roots and searching for water. In the case of trees, this can be particularly problematic as their roots sometimes have a tendency to work their way into your plumbing lines through cracks or damages in their search. Tree roots can cause serious blockages if they find their way into your plumbing lines, not to mention the damage they can cause in the process, so this spring, you will want to make sure that your have your underground pipes inspected and serviced to ensure they aren't at risk of having tree roots invade as the weather continues to heat up in the coming months.
Inspect Your Faucets
Leaking faucets can be a nuisance for more reasons that just the constant dripping sound they make. Depending on the severity of your leak, a leaking faucet can have a fairly large impact over time on your water bills, especially if you have more than one faucet that's doing it. This spring, make sure that your check for moisture in the areas around your faucets, as oftentimes they can develop a leak that is hidden from sight, especially in cases where they run under your sink or cabinets, and if you find any, call in a plumbing professionals as soon as possible to find the source of the leak and put a stop to it.
If you are looking for a professional Brentwood plumber, give us a call today at 925-470-0142 or fill out our online request form.Read More